"Yuzu." Reaching up, a girl wearing a short, peach-colored wig tapped the shoulder of a boy with a short, black wig. When he turned around, the girl looked straight into his eyes, both masked by green contacts. "You have another fan over on my side." She was about a head shorter than the boy, Yuzu, who also wore a black-and-red striped scarf and school uniform. Her curly wig matched the color of the sweater she wore on top of a blue school uniform similar to Yuzu's. She didn't like contacts, but her surprisingly natural pink and purple eyes were always mistaken for them. Thick, red spectacles without actual lenses framed those eyes, and at first glance, it was hard to tell whether the eyes or the glasses caught attention first. In the morning rush, her wig was knocked off-center, so her jet black hair peeked out from the bangs. She hadn't had the time to fix it yet.
"Thanks, Yaya." Yuzu adjusted his own wig momentarily before giving the girl a pat on the head.
"I told you, call me Ayaka or Aya." Ayaka gently pushed Yuzu's hand away. "Yaya is specifically for my fans."
"But I am a fan," Yuzu said jokingly. "I love your art."
"You're not exactly the same, you know," Ayaka crossed her arms. "Anyway, the girl would like an autograph from you, so don't forget the marker." She made her way back through a propped up wall printed with the convention logo behind Yuzu. This was the only direct way between the Artist Alley and the Cosplay Corridor.
Following suit, Yuzu grabbed the black, permanent marker on his fold up table and made his way to the other side. Comparable to the flashing cameras of the Cosplay Corridor, the Artist Alley was filled with fans of all ages carrying bags of every size. Ayaka stood waiting, making small talk with the fan she was probably talking about.
"There he is." Ayaka motioned Yuzu over.
When he made his way towards them, the fan, a young girl, lit up. "Can I, uh, have your autograph, Yuyu?" She quickly covered her mouth in embarrassment, "I mean! Yuzu..." The girl nervously held out a board with both hands.
"Yuyu?" Yuzu tilted his head, smiling. "What a cute nickname, thanks." He accepted the board and uncapped the permanent marker. In capitalized letters, he wrote out his name, then signed an asterisk at the end. He handed the autographed board back to the girl, who beamed and carefully placed the board back into her large bag. The logo on the bag told YUZU* that she had recently purchased from PlushNote, a famous doll-making group specializing in VOCALOID goods.
"And, uhm," a silver camera peeked out from the bag, "Picture…?"
"Why not?" YUZU* began patting down his cosplay to get rid of strange wrinkles and folds. He then proceeded to comb his wig slightly with his fingers and patted the top of it.
"Sorry, I'm kinda in the way here." Ayaka stepped over to the side of the booth.
The fan stopped her. "Oh, uhm! I want a picture of you, too, Ayaya!" Her tone changed as she followed up with, "Is that ok?" The camera between her two hands waited in anticipation.
Ayaka put her finger to her chin as if in mock thought. "Only if you know what characters we're cosplaying as!" Walking over to the left side of her booth, she picked up the red sword she had ignored until then. Another hint for who they were cosplaying, or preparation for the photo.
"Easy!" The girl grinned as Ayaka brought the sword over. Pointing to Ayaka, she said, "Kuriyama Mirai, from Beyond the Boundary!" Then, to YUZU*, she said, "Nase Hiroomi. Also from Beyond the Boundary."
"Ding ding!" Ayaka mimicked a ringing bell. "Correct!"
Without a moment's hesitation, the fan eagerly held the camera up.
YUZU* leaned his head towards Ayaka slightly, keeping his eyes on the camera. "Can I call you Ayaya?" he whispered to her as the fan turned on the device and set it up.
"No," she hissed back. "Fans only."
Positioned at the perfect angle, the fan called out, "Ready?"
"Ready!" YUZU* and Ayaka leaned closer, backs facing each other, posing in a way they believed their character would. Ayaka pointed the sword at the camera, in hopes it would create an interesting blurry effect and show depth. YUZU* averted his eyes from the camera and, using two fingers, held a small portion of the scarf to cover his mouth.
A flash of bright light and a shutter sound, the fan was satisfied how well the photo turned out. She shyly thanked the both of them for their time.
"And that will be fifteen dollars." Ayaka held out her open palm to the young girl.
"Eh?" The fan looked at Ayaka with utter confusion.
YUZU* did the same. When did we start charging for pictures?
After shaking her head slightly, as if to shake off the momentary hesitation, the young girl reached into her bag to pull out a teal-colored wallet printed with the white outline of a girl in a school uniform. Hatsune Miku. YUZU* recognized the twintailed singer. The girl is really decked out in VOCALOID stuff.
Ayaka smiled and withdrew her hand. "I was kidding. Good joke, right?" YUZU* and the fan were even more confused. "Sorry," Ayaka apologized. "Here, take this. I shouldn't have joked like that." Seeing the girl was armed with VOCALOID goods, Ayaka gave her a print of her art with one of the virtual singers on it. Wait, why did she give her KAITO? YUZU* gestured to Ayaka that the girl would probably prefer one of Miku, but failed to get the message across since Ayaka directed her attention to the girl overflowing with joy.
"Thank you!" She grinned, putting both her wallet and new poster into the PlushNote bag. When everything was in, she waved to YUZU* and Ayaka. "Bye! Hope to see you again next year!" They both waved back at her, watching her slowly merge with the bustling crowd.
"Next year," YUZU* said, slowly lowering his hand.
"Don't think that much ahead yet," Ayaka patted him on the back. "That's too far into the future to worry about. Think about right now and enjoy this time." Picking up the marker left behind on the table, she tossed it to YUZU*, who barely caught it in time. "Make sure no one's at your booth, then go pick up some lunch for us, ok?" She added, "Tuna salad, please."
"Anything else?" YUZU* headed over to the propped wall, ready to pass through.
"Hmm." Ayaka thought for a moment. "Perhaps some kind of tea to drink?"
"Got it." Smirking, YUZU* added playfully, "Since you didn't mention any specifics, I guess the bitter kind will work." He stepped through the opening. "You should try it. It's good for you."
"You better not!" Ayaka laughed. She knew he wouldn't, considering the number of times he'd bought them tea. Ayaka requested the sweet, fruity kind every time. The bitter ones were her absolute least favorite kind, even if they were healthy.
Back at his booth, YUZU* looked around, seeing no one waiting. Some of the other cosplayers nearby had abandoned their station for the time being. Everyone's probably getting ready to eat, YUZU* thought. He dropped off the marker and snatched his wallet from his blue jacket.
Heading out of the Cosplay Corridor, he walked across the large center hall to the opposite side, where food of all kinds was being served. Third from the entrance was the sandwich bar, unsurprisingly and uncreatively named Sandwich Deli. YUZU* ordered Ayaka's sandwich, two in case she was incredibly hungry, and checked out the other options for his own lunch.
I'm not really in the mood for a sandwich, though. None of the menu items appealed to him.
The cashier motioned him over, then told him he would have to wait ten minutes for the sandwich because they were out of tuna until the next batch came. YUZU* shrugged and agreed to wait. He wandered around the food court, trying to decide what he would get instead.
When he reached a hamburger joint, he heard distant cheering. YUZU* couldn't make it out very well, but it sounded like a competition. Mixing in the occasional sound of a car's engine and gunfire, he guessed it was a gaming competition. Or something much worse, but YUZU* decided that was probably not it. He tracked down the direction the noise was coming from and decided to see what was up. After all, he had some time before the tuna came.
As the cheering grew louder, the amount of people in the halls decreased until YUZU* realized he was walking through an empty hallway. He couldn't even hear the sound anymore. Confused, YUZU* made his way backwards to ask the first person he came across if they knew where the competition was being held.
In sheer luck, the first person he bumped into was one of the convention staff, a lady with blonde hair and pale blue eyes. Her hair was tied up in a bun and she carried a clipboard and pen. Very official-looking, YUZU* thought. Then he noticed she was wearing a button. Isn't that Shindou Ayaka? YUZU* came close enough to identify the character on the pin, which was surprisingly from Beyond the Boundary. She must be pretty updated on her anime.
"Can I help you?" the woman asked. YUZU* looked away from the button and to the staff member.
"Uhm, no." YUZU* quickly correct himself, "I mean, yes! Do you know if there's a video game competition going on near here? I heard there was one." He actually didn't, but saying he heard car engines and gunshots that reminded him of video games wasn't exactly what he wanted to do.
The lady checked her clipboard, peeling the first page from the second for more information. "It seems there is," she finally said, after landing on the sixth page. "But you're heading the wrong way. If you turn around and head forward, you'll eventually come to a door and the competition's being held there." The pages settled back onto the clipboard when she let go of them.
"Thank you." YUZU* instinctively bowed, then turned around, back the direction he came. So it was this way, he thought to himself.
The hallway curved slightly, preventing him from knowing how far the door was. Eventually, YUZU* came across a dead end, and at the center was the door the lady described. The cheers and arcade noises were very distinct now, drawing YUZU* in. He knew he only had a few minutes, but just a peek would be ok.
YUZU* grabbed the long handle of the wooden door and gently opened it, careful not to disturb the gamers inside. They probably won't notice, though. Bright, white light quickly flowed out, momentarily blinding YUZU*. Thinking it was just the bright arcade lights, he stepped in, wishing his eyes would adjust to the change faster. Before he could realize the light wasn't fading away, YUZU*'s eyes were shut tight by some outside force and he, himself, fell unconscious.
The door closed with a slam, echoing through the empty halls.
YUZU* here again. ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ
It's been a year since my last SmileCon. Glad to be back.
Was it always this chilly? I know it's winter but we're pretty far down.
Glad this year's cosplay is a winter school uniform. Bonus, it comes with a scarf.
If you didn't already know, Journalさん, for Friday, I'm Nase Hiroomi and ayaka's Kuriyama Mirai.
We debated about who we should be for KnK for a while, since ayaka liked Mirai and I liked Hiroomi.
Cosplay for the ship or who you like? It went on for a while...
But in the end, we decided it's better to go as who you want to be.
And that's the point of cosplaying, isn't it?
I've improved on sewing, so this year's outfits are fancier than the last.（笑）
ayaka also improved. The art I never thought could get better did. I can't explain how, but it just draws you in more now. (￣▽￣)
Her art pays off both her booth and my own. I should really start selling photo albums. Can't let ayaka do everything.
Would people even buy it? σ(^_^;)
I'll just have to make it look appealing enough. ayaka could help with the illustrations...
No, I can't ask for ayaka's help this time. She's been selling her art alone, so I should too.
Well, I guess I helped her by showing her a good printing place...（・v・；）
No, no, no, all alone. That's that.
I don't even know why I keep typing up a journal entry every day.
ayaka told me it would help. Help what? I forgot if she told me.
I hope this year, something exciting happens. I've been to so many conventions, I'm worried I'm not excited anymore.
Maybe I need to take a break sometime and check out some panels or something.
I wonder if ayaka would like that.